ID :
128092
Wed, 06/16/2010 - 11:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/128092
The shortlink copeid
Okinawa governor resists Tokyo-Washington base relocation plan
+
TOKYO, June 15 Kyodo -
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima put up stiff resistance Tuesday to the
government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base to Okinawa Prefecture's
northern coastal area during his first meeting with new Prime Minister Naoto
Kan.
Nakaima told Kan, who took office last week, it will be ''very difficult'' to
accept the plan of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in
Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago in the same prefecture, according to
participants of the meeting.
In the face of strong opposition to the plan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito
Sengoku indicated it would be difficult for the government to meet the end of
August deadline for hammering out the specifics of relocating the base, despite
Tokyo's agreement in late May with Washington to do so.
''I'm afraid the details may end up being armchair theories'' without consent
from people in the prefecture, Sengoku said at a news conference.
Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, said the current situation, which he
likened to solving ''simultaneous equations,'' is ''difficult.''
During the meeting, Kan told the governor he will honor the agreement with
Washington on the relocation while doing his best to reduce the burden
shouldered by the prefecture in hosting the air base and the bulk of U.S.
forces in Japan under a bilateral security accord, the participants said.
Nakaima said he called on the government to work harder to reduce the burden,
and added that crimes and accidents involving U.S. servicemen are increasing in
the prefecture.
''We have no choice but to exchange opinions with the government to find a new
direction,'' Nakaima told reporters after the meeting in the premier's office.
''We will continue to make requests to the government.''
Earlier this month, Kan's predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, resigned in the wake of
plunging public support triggered by his failure to resolve the relocation
issue.
On May 28, Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan-led government and the United
States announced a new accord to transfer the base to the coastal area near the
Marines' Camp Schwab.
A joint statement on the accord says the two have confirmed ''the intention to
locate the replacement facility at the Camp Schwab Henoko-saki (Cape Henoko)
area and adjacent waters'' and that they decided to complete a study by experts
on its ''location, configuration and construction method...in any event no
later than the end of August.''
The latest deal is basically on a par with a 2006 agreement between the two
countries, despite Hatoyama's efforts to move the base outside the prefecture.
Kan is scheduled to visit the prefecture on June 23 to attend a war memorial
service, and hopes to hold more talks then with Nakaima.
Even so, it appears almost certain that Kan's Cabinet will find it difficult to
achieve a major breakthrough in securing enough local support for the plan in
the near future, partly because of limited time left before the end-of-August
deadline.
The current Diet session ends on Wednesday, but Kan and his Cabinet members
will be busy stumping for the House of Councillors election, scheduled on July
11.
After the meeting with Nakaima, Kan ordered his Cabinet members to work closely
to address issues related to the Futenma relocation, with Sengoku playing a
central role.
''The situation is quite hard. I already knew it,'' Kan told reporters in the
evening. ''But I'd like to consider and discuss tenaciously what would be
deemed as the reduction of Okinawa's burden.''
==Kyodo
2010-06-15 23:46:38
TOKYO, June 15 Kyodo -
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima put up stiff resistance Tuesday to the
government's plan to relocate a key U.S. military base to Okinawa Prefecture's
northern coastal area during his first meeting with new Prime Minister Naoto
Kan.
Nakaima told Kan, who took office last week, it will be ''very difficult'' to
accept the plan of relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in
Ginowan to the Henoko district of Nago in the same prefecture, according to
participants of the meeting.
In the face of strong opposition to the plan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito
Sengoku indicated it would be difficult for the government to meet the end of
August deadline for hammering out the specifics of relocating the base, despite
Tokyo's agreement in late May with Washington to do so.
''I'm afraid the details may end up being armchair theories'' without consent
from people in the prefecture, Sengoku said at a news conference.
Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, said the current situation, which he
likened to solving ''simultaneous equations,'' is ''difficult.''
During the meeting, Kan told the governor he will honor the agreement with
Washington on the relocation while doing his best to reduce the burden
shouldered by the prefecture in hosting the air base and the bulk of U.S.
forces in Japan under a bilateral security accord, the participants said.
Nakaima said he called on the government to work harder to reduce the burden,
and added that crimes and accidents involving U.S. servicemen are increasing in
the prefecture.
''We have no choice but to exchange opinions with the government to find a new
direction,'' Nakaima told reporters after the meeting in the premier's office.
''We will continue to make requests to the government.''
Earlier this month, Kan's predecessor, Yukio Hatoyama, resigned in the wake of
plunging public support triggered by his failure to resolve the relocation
issue.
On May 28, Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan-led government and the United
States announced a new accord to transfer the base to the coastal area near the
Marines' Camp Schwab.
A joint statement on the accord says the two have confirmed ''the intention to
locate the replacement facility at the Camp Schwab Henoko-saki (Cape Henoko)
area and adjacent waters'' and that they decided to complete a study by experts
on its ''location, configuration and construction method...in any event no
later than the end of August.''
The latest deal is basically on a par with a 2006 agreement between the two
countries, despite Hatoyama's efforts to move the base outside the prefecture.
Kan is scheduled to visit the prefecture on June 23 to attend a war memorial
service, and hopes to hold more talks then with Nakaima.
Even so, it appears almost certain that Kan's Cabinet will find it difficult to
achieve a major breakthrough in securing enough local support for the plan in
the near future, partly because of limited time left before the end-of-August
deadline.
The current Diet session ends on Wednesday, but Kan and his Cabinet members
will be busy stumping for the House of Councillors election, scheduled on July
11.
After the meeting with Nakaima, Kan ordered his Cabinet members to work closely
to address issues related to the Futenma relocation, with Sengoku playing a
central role.
''The situation is quite hard. I already knew it,'' Kan told reporters in the
evening. ''But I'd like to consider and discuss tenaciously what would be
deemed as the reduction of Okinawa's burden.''
==Kyodo
2010-06-15 23:46:38